Modular toy system

ABSTRACT

This educational modular, snap-together toy block system is a learning tool to imaginatively play and create functional cityscapes to use as play areas. Small blocks shaped and stylized to mimic everyday objects within a normal city setting that are fitted with male connectors can be manipulated and rotated before being plugged into a grid pattern base/tray. The base/tray female connections secure the blocks into place and provide a solid, stable platform for play. Once blocks have been attached to the base/tray, various transportation toys can be manipulated on its play surface. When the user requires additional play space, base/trays can exponentially be added to the current base/tray using connectors which lock multiple base/trays seamlessly together.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/601,130 titled Educational Modular Snap-Together Toy Block System filed on Feb. 21, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many commercially available block systems which allow for the building of objects. Most common are blocks which snap together independently of a base. As these toys are utilized they can be moved and easily dropped and/or lost. Other currently available systems use bases but do not make the building pieces snap into place which leaves them vulnerable to the same problem. These issues can make the toy frustrating for a young child or even cause them to lose interest in the overall toy and focus on one small piece of it.

Themes for other commercially available toy block systems range from human figures and animals to vehicles, structures and geographic landscapes. As the level of realistic detail increases, often so does the target age group for the end user. Similar toy systems with accurate depictions of cityscapes are usually intended for children of a higher age range.

Another problem with current product designs is the life span for creative stimulation. As a child plays with a toy they grow in one of two directions. They are either challenged to continue exploring or they exhaust all options available to them and grow tired the object. Some current products are intended to be built to mimic a specific design, i.e. a human face or a specific landmark or animal. Once the child completes the design, the creative challenge is exhausted and the child loses interest. In other products there are accompanying add-ons but they are separate from the original product and don't cohesively connect with the child's original creative thought process.

The above background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an educational modular, snap-together toy block system designed to allow a child to build and re-configure functional play settings out of blocks, stylized to mimic objects that they may see around them in normal city setting. The ability to easily manipulate and modify the city themed structures all while connecting pieces to a secure building foundation differentiates this product from any other on the market.

The present invention addresses the problems of existing market products in several key areas. This product uses a secure base structure from which the child can manipulate the layout of a generic cityscape while keeping the entirety of the parts cohesive and involved. Once attached, the base can be turned upside down and pieces will not come apart.

The present invention also advantageously provides familiar shapes and natural objects that a child can use to recreate their own familiar environment or something completely foreign to them. Other current products which are designed to resemble city settings are very clearly defined and present a clear “right” versus “wrong” way of building which is why they are better suited for older, more mature children. The objects in this product are detailed enough to be recognizable to a small child but at the same time simple enough to encourage creativity by not defining a “right” versus “wrong” way of use. Each piece is a fundamental shape which helps encourage the development of rudimentary motor skills and thus, is a more fundamentally educational product than some similar products.

The system according to embodiments of the present invention provides the ability to expand with additional bases to create larger play spaces for the user. As the user gets more involved with the toy and looks for more of a challenge or expanded creative space, additional bases can be attached allowing for an exponentially longer life span. The additional bases will securely attach to the original base and make a seamless transition for play.

The modular toy block system according to embodiments of the present invention allows the users to create their own cityscapes with streets, parks, waterways/beaches, railroads, buildings and houses. Designed for children, this system intends for them to use their imagination to create their ideal cities or simply emulate areas they are familiar with. Once built, the city becomes a functional play area for various forms of transportation toys, such as cars, buses, trucks, trains, ships and airplanes. Limited only by imagination, the user easily creates different landscapes by snapping blocks with a male connector into the grid of female connector holes on the tray/base. Before being inserted into the tray/base, each of the blocks can be rotated in a circular fashion to allow for (4) different directional alignments, depending on the other surrounding block pattern. While attached to the tray/base, the pieces are secure enough to hold firmly into the tray/base but are still easily removed from the tray/base.

When the user wants to expand the play space, they can connect the tray/bases to make larger cities. Using the connector (shown in FIG. 22) multiple tray/bases can be connected creating seamless expansion of the play area. Once attached, the additional tray/bases lay flat and are easily added to. This provides the ability to exponentially grow the original play space. The present invention contemplates that additional toy block systems can be included to expand upon the city theme using clearly recognizable landmarks from actual cities, cultural theme variations, multiple color schemes and commercial entities, such as theme parks or other various attractions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the exemplary drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the accompanying Figures:

FIG. 1 depicts an isometric view where the 2 examples of block modules are connected by a connector in the middle.

FIG. 2 depicts an isometric view of the single example of block module.

FIG. 3 depicts an exploded assembly view of the single example of block module of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 depicts four orthogonal views and one cross section view of an example of block module.

FIG. 5 depicts two orthogonal views and one cross section view of the tray/base.

FIGS. 6-20 depict four orthogonal views and one exploded assembly of individual blocks.

FIG. 21 depicts two orthogonal views and one isometric view of the cylindrical connector used on the FIG. 6-20.

FIG. 22 depicts three orthogonal views and one isometric view of the connector used on the FIG. 1.

FIGS. 23-25 depict three orthogonal views and one isometric view of the sample transportation pieces used on the FIG. 2.

FIG. 26 depicts three orthogonal views and one exploded view of the bottom part used on the FIG. 23-25.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention, as shown and described by the various figures and accompanying text, provides a cityscape snap-together toy block system used for imaginative play.

FIG. 1 provides an image of (100) two complete samples of the blocks arranged on a tray/base along with (105) the connector to attach the tray/bases together.

FIG. 2 depicts an angled view of all the individual pieces associated with the standard set (100): (110) the base/tray with square patterned holes; (130, 140) model 2 and model 3 car assemblies; (200) gable top block assembly; (205) shed top block assembly; (210) conical top block assembly; (215) flat top block assembly; (220) barrel top block assembly; (225, 230, 235, 240) straight recessed, convex recessed, concave recessed, and corner recessed block waterways/beaches assemblies; (255) Spherical ball top block assembly; (260) cylindrical step top block assembly; (265) egg shaped top block assembly; (270) straight road pattern feature; (275) T-junction road pattern block assembly; (280) cross road pattern block assembly.

FIG. 3 depicts a side view of the aforementioned items: (100, 110, 130, 140, 200, 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, 235, 240, 255, 260, 265, 270, 275, 280)

FIG. 4 depicts a top view of (100) a sample of the blocks arrangement as well as a front view, and views from both sides to give an idea of scale. Also depicted is (SECTION A-A), a cross section of the interaction of (115) the cylindrical male connector from the bottom of a block assembly with (110) the base/tray with square patterned holes. This is the mechanism for snapping the block assembly pieces into place discussed in paragraph 0028. FIG. 5 depicts in more detail the (110) base/tray with its (113) square patterned holes.

FIG. 21 depicts the attributes of the (115) cylindrical male connector which is present in FIGS. 6-20. When this piece of the block assembly is inserted into one of the holes on the base/tray (113) shown in FIG. 5, the (118) 4 taps with snap features lock into place between the top chamfer and bottom chamfer of the tray/base shown in (DETAIL B) of FIG. 5.

Once all block assemblies have been connected to the tray/base, the user is free to move many variations of transportation toys around on the surface. These sample vehicles are shown in FIGS. 23-26. Each of the cars has a spherical recessed feature designed to fit a child's finger for easy movement. These spherical recesses are depicted as (122) on FIG. 23, (132) on FIG. 24 and (142) on FIG. 25.

The sample transportation vehicles are created using the same bases for all three styles. Shown in FIG. 26 the vehicles are made up of a (150) bottom car assembly, (151) bottom car part, (152) wheels part and (153) cylindrical boss features. On top of these assemblies is attached each car's identifying component, (120) Model 1 car assembly, (130) Model 2 car assembly, (140) Model 3 car assembly.

In order to seamlessly expand the play area the user can attach the (105) connector from FIG. 22 to the (114) 2 notches for connector which are located on all 4 sides of the tray/base and shown in FIG. 5. These are the critical components that give the ability to add an exponential number of trays/bases to the original tray/base in order to create more play space.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. 

That which is claimed:
 1. A modular toy system comprising: a block assembly comprising a base having a plurality of spaced apart passageways formed therethrough, a plurality of blocks that are connectable to the base, at least one transportation member adapted to be positioned on the plurality of blocks and move along the plurality of blocks after the plurality of blocks have been connected to the base, wherein each of the plurality of blocks includes a connector extending from a bottom portion thereof, wherein the connector interacts with one of the plurality of passageways to detachably connect the block to the base, and wherein the plurality of blocks are arrangeable on the base to form a pattern.
 2. A modular toy system according to claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of blocks includes sets of pluralities of blocks.
 3. A modular toy system according to claim 2 wherein the sets of blocks are selected from the group consisting of a gable top block, a shed top block, a conical top block, a flat top block, a barrel top block, a straight recessed block, a convex recessed block, a concave recessed block, a corner recessed block, a waterway block, a beach block, a spherical ball block, a top block, a cylindrical step block, an egg shaped top block, a straight road pattern block, a T-junction road pattern block, and a cross road pattern block.
 4. A modular toy system according to claim 1 wherein the pattern is a cityscape.
 5. A modular toy system according to claim 1 wherein the pattern is a beachscape.
 6. A modular toy system according to claim 1 wherein the pattern is a landscape.
 7. A modular toy system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one transportation piece is selected from the group comprising a car, a truck, and a van.
 8. A modular toy system according to claim 1 wherein the block assembly comprises a plurality of block assemblies and wherein the bases of the plurality of block assemblies are connectable to one another; and further comprising a connector member having a first portion that matingly connects to the base of one of the plurality of block assemblies and a second portion that matingly connects to the base of another one of the plurality of block assemblies so as to join the bases of the block assemblies.
 9. A modular toy system according to claim 7 wherein the connector member has an “I” shape and wherein the end portions of the “I” shaped connector are adapted to engage notches formed in the base of each of the plurality of block assemblies.
 10. A modular toy system according to claim 1 wherein the connector extending from the bottom of each of the blocks includes a locking portion that, when positioned to interact with the passageway in the base, includes a bottom lip that is positioned adjacent a bottom portion of the passageway.
 11. A modular toy system according to claim 10 wherein the connector extending from the bottom of each of the blocks is substantially cylindrical and wherein each of the passageways formed through the base is substantially circular so that each of the blocks can be rotationally oriented with respect to one of the passageways formed in the base.
 12. A modular toy system according to claim 1 wherein the passageways formed in the base are aligned in a substantially symmetrical configuration.
 13. A modular toy system comprising: a plurality of block assemblies connectable to one another wherein each of the plurality of block assemblies comprises a base having a plurality of spaced apart passageways formed therethrough, a plurality of blocks that are connectable to the base, at least one transportation member adapted to be positioned on the plurality of blocks and move along the plurality of blocks after the plurality of blocks have been connected to the base, wherein each of the plurality of blocks includes a connector extending from a bottom portion thereof, wherein the connector interacts with one of the plurality of passageways to detachably connect the block to the base, wherein the connector extending from the bottom of each of the blocks includes a locking portion that, when positioned to interact with the passageway in the base, includes a bottom lip that is positioned adjacent a bottom portion of the passageway, and wherein the plurality of blocks are arrangeable on the base to form a pattern; and at least one connector member having a first portion that matingly connects to a portion of the base of one of the plurality of block assemblies and a second portion that matingly connects to a portion of the base another of the plurality of block assemblies so as to join the bases of the block assemblies.
 14. A modular toy system according to claim 13 wherein each of the plurality of blocks includes sets of pluralities of blocks.
 15. A modular toy system according to claim 14 wherein the sets of blocks are selected from the group consisting of a gable top block, a shed top block, a conical top block, a flat top block, a barrel top block, a straight recessed block, a convex recessed block, a concave recessed block, a corner recessed block, a waterway block, a beach block, a spherical ball block, a top block, a cylindrical step block, an egg shaped top block, a straight road pattern block, a T-junction road pattern block, and a cross road pattern block.
 16. A modular toy system according to claim 13 wherein the pattern is selected from a group consisting of a cityscape, a beachscape and a landscape.
 17. A modular toy system according to claim 13 wherein the at least one transportation piece is selected from the group comprising a car, a truck, and a van.
 18. A modular toy system according to claim 13 wherein the connector member has an “I” shape and wherein the end portions of the “I” shaped connector are adapted to engage notches formed in the base of each of the plurality of block assemblies.
 19. A modular toy system according to claim 13 wherein the connector extending from the bottom of each of the blocks is substantially cylindrical and wherein each of the passageways formed through the base is substantially circular so that each of the blocks can be rotationally oriented with respect to one of the passageways formed in the base.
 20. A modular toy system according to claim 13 wherein the passageways formed in the base are aligned in a substantially symmetrical configuration. 